


Playing with Dead Things

by LovelyLittleGrim



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Mort - Freeform, There’s zombies in the fic, These two are dorks and deserve each other, Zombies, theyre a natural part of society
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-24 00:36:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16169993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LovelyLittleGrim/pseuds/LovelyLittleGrim
Summary: The guy Liam has a major crush on always walks his pet at the same time past Liam’s house every day. Liam decides it's finally time to do something about it.





	Playing with Dead Things

**Author's Note:**

  * For [manonlemelon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/manonlemelon/gifts), [LI0NH34RT](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LI0NH34RT/gifts).



> I'm blaming this all on Manon. 
> 
> I hope you guys read the tags. This is.. a little cracky...but written in a serious manner?

There’s ragged breathing and the rhythmic scraping of a shoe against pavement. Liam watches from his perch as the zombie makes its way down the street, it’s rumpled clothing catching on fence posts and bushes when it veers off course. Theo follows along behind it, a red coil of fabric wrapped around his wrist connecting him to the zombie, keeping the zombie from wandering too far.

Liam flushes when Theo glances over and sees him sitting on the porch, enjoying the last few dying rays of sunlight.

It’s stupid, he tells himself trying to force the blush away. It’s not like Theo knows the only reason Liam is outside right now is because he knows that Theo always walks his zombie at this hour. Like clockwork, the sky turns a burnish red and Theo Raeken rounds the corner and passes by Liam’s house with his Zombie—always making sure to call out a hello to Liam. 

“Hey, Dunbar,” Theo waves as he passes by just like Liam knew he would.

“H-hey,” Liam chokes out, holding stock still until Theo is out of sight, leaving only the distant echo of footsteps and gurgling breaths behind.

“Stupid,” Liam whispers at himself, his head falling into his hands. “How do you fuck up a single word, Dunbar?”

He groans, long and low, and then snorts when he realizes he can do a perfect zombie impression. Not that-that would be impressive to anyone he knows.

Trying to shove away the mortal embarrassment he feels in ever fiber of his bones, he pushes himself up to his feet and dusts off his jeans. With an idle pat to his back pocket to make sure he has his cellphone he slips inside the house and makes his way into the kitchen where his parents are making dinner, the scent of pasta carrying throughout the house with its delicious aroma.

“Mom, dad, we need to talk,” he says seriously once he steps into the kitchen, his fingers digging into the back of one of the plush kitchen chairs as though he’s hoping to borrow its strength and fortitude.

His mother looks over her shoulder at him as she stirs the large pot of noodles with a single hand. “Oh, it’s the serious face,” she says as she looks him over critically.

His father glances up and dips his head in agreeance. “Last time we saw that face you told us you were bisexual,” his father says as he chops up vegetables, a single brow arching curiously. “What’s up kiddo?”

Liam sucks in a deep breath. “I want a zombie.”

His mother lets out an indelicate snort, “Absolutely not.”

“Wait, hear me out before you say no,” Liam squawks, his hands flying up from the chair like he can bat away her rebuttal. 

“Too late, you’re slow,” his mother chirps as she turns around and brandishes a large spoon at him, water drips from it and a noodle drops from the end onto the tile with a muted splat.“Zombies are messy, Liam, they leave blood and guts all over the place.”

Liam arches a brow at her and gestures towards the water and noodle ridden floor as if to say: Zombies aren’t the only messy beings in existence. His mother either doesn’t get it or purposely ignores him.

“It’s a no, Liam,” she tells him firmly. “They smell like death and they groan all night.”

“Mom,” he whines at her, his shoulders sagging with the weight of an impending defeat.

“Liam,” she whines right back mockingly.

“Real mature sweetie,” his father snorts out leaning over to drop a kiss to his mothers’ forehead. “You show him who’s boss.”

“Hush you.” She swats at him but leans into the kiss.

Liam makes a face at them. “Look,” he says, trying to sound more adult-like than his seventeen years. “I have a job, I’ll pay for the zombie and all of its needs, and I’ll make sure it’s fed every day and I’ll take it on walks around the neighborhood—“

“Aha—that’s why you can’t have one,” his mother interrupts with a wave of her spoon. “You don’t really want a zombie for yourself, Liam, you want it to impress that boy that lives down the street. The one that always walks by with his zombie.

Liam’s mouth parts but he can’t find any words to say, his cheeks burning as his mother fixes him with a knowing gaze. She clicks her tongue at him in a way that lets him know his silence is all the answer she needs.

“Not true,” he mumbles knowing full well it’s a futile attempt at dissuading her from the notion. He’s always been shit at lying, especially to his mother. Liam does want a zombie because of Theo, but not to impress him or anything. He just wants a chance to speak to the older boy, and if they happen to be walking their zombies at the same time then who know what could happen.

His father sighs, and sets down his knife to pin Liam with a look. “Liam is that why you want a zombie? To impress some other kid? Because if so then it’s a no.”

“No—I mean— I’m not trying to impress anyone,” Liam says quickly, taking several steps closer to his parents. “I think a zombie would be a good way to get out of the house, it’s summertime, and Mason’s on vacation and I’ve been here all by myself... it’s lonely.”

He knows he’s using the guilt-trip-method, but his parents can’t complain, he learned it from his mother after all. He pushes out his bottom lip just a little and stares up at his parents with big blue hopeful eyes. “Please?”

His mother makes a face at him, her nose scrunching up until her forehead wrinkles in much the same way his own does. “You’re a little tyrant, you know that,” she sighs, blowing her bangs away from her face.

Liam tries to bite back his grin but it’s hard, because he knows he has her. “Does that mean yes I can have one?”

She looks over at his father who just shrugs before picking back up his knife, then turns back to Liam and waves her hand at him. “Yeah, yeah, you can have one but we expect it to be well taken care of. Now, get out of my kitchen with your conniving ways.”

“Yes!” He cheers, darts forward and hugs both of his parents quickly, “thanks, love you,” he yells out as he hurries from the room.

He has to call Mason and tell him the news. Operation: Hot Zombie Walker is a go.

 

* * *

 

There are all kinds of zombies. Liam’s never seen so many in one place before. And they all vary in states of decay. From Fleshies all the way to the Rotters. Liam almost feels overwhelmed just having to choose one and is suddenly thankful his dad volunteered to come with him.

According to the employee showing them around the Mort Pound, the Fleshies are the zombies that go fast apparently. Everyone wants a cute little Fleshy to take home to the family. They move quicker and can fetch bones with ease, their teeth strong and skin still mostly intact.

Liam sees the appeal of them but Fleshies are also extremely hard to train and often get too excited—resulting in blood on the carpet or scratches on the children. Not that Liam has children, he himself is still a child. It’s just easier to get an older zombie, one with less bite. Though not one as old as a Rotter, they smell far too much like death... that's probably why they usually get put down instead of finding a forever home. No one ever wants a Rotter. 

“What about this one?” His father asks nodding at a particularly small zombie. “She’s thirty-seven and has all her shots, also says here that’s she’s quite friendly and good with other zombies.”

Liam cocks his head to the side as he watches the zombie sway back and forth in her cell, her milky eyes watching him lazily. She’s kinda cute, short-haired so she’ll be less maintenance and smaller than him in stature so he’ll be fine walking her around the neighborhood without the worry of her getting away from him.

“Yeah,” Liam grins excitedly already picturing it all in his head. “Yeah, let's go with this one.

 

* * *

 

Liam is a little nervous. He doesn’t want to seem like he’s been walking his zombie aimlessly around the block for twenty minutes in the hopes of bumping into Theo— but he has. Theo, for the first time all summer, is late. The sun will be setting soon, and the older boy isn’t anywhere to be seen.

Liam sighs, it’s possible that Theo has something to do today—work, or friends to hang out with, unlike Liam. Theo is one of the more popular kids at their high school. He’s not Jackson levels of popularity, but he’s not too far below on the hypothetical totem pole. Neither is Liam, technically, but Liam only counts Mason as his friend. Everyone else just gets on his nerves.

He scuffs his shoe against the pavement sending loose gravel skittering across the sidewalk and into the road. “Lame,” Liam huffs at himself.

“What’s lame?” a voice asks loudly from behind him.

Liam startles, jerking on the bright blue leash in his hand roughly and making his zombie rasp loudly in irritation. He winces in her direction, hoping she won’t hold it against him but knowing she most likely will despite it not being Zombie nature.

“Sorry,” Theo apologies sheepishly as he waves a hand at Liam. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

His green eyes dart over to Liam’s zombie and widen in surprise. “Oh, so, this is why you weren’t at your post,” he jokes. “I thought you’d just abandoned it in favor of something more exciting.”

“Oh, uh, yeah, I mean no—not more exciting,” Liam says awkwardly and points at his zombie. “My parents finally let me get a zombie.”

Theo nods his head as he looks over the zombie with a curious green gaze. “She’s kinda cute... in a grumpy I-want-to-eat-your-brains kind of way. What’s her name?”

“Monroe,” Liam tells him, watching as Theo moves closer towards her.

Theo tries to pet her, but she snaps her yellowing teeth at him in warning and he pulls away quickly with a nervous chuckle. “She’s a feisty one.”

“Yeah,” Liam sighs and tugs on the leash gently, drawing her milky eyes away from Theo. “Her papers said she was friendly, but I think it was all just a lie to get rid of her. I’m pretty sure she’s actually the devil or a hell spawn of some sort.”

Theo blinks at him in surprise and then snorts out a laugh. “That’s what all new owners say,” he reassures Liam reaching out to give him a quick pat on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, she’ll warm up to you.”

He nods his head at his own zombie just a few feet away. “Stiles hated my guts when I first got him as a Fleshy, but he’s warmed up to me since then. It just takes time and patience, trust me.”

Liam gives Monroe a skeptical look, she snaps her teeth at him like she’s imagining chewing him up.“If you say so.”

“I do,” Theo says sagely. “And, I’m always right so you should trust me.”

“Now, _that_ I don’t believe,” Liam laughs.

Theo gives him an over exaggerated pout, but the edges tremble and he ends up smiling instead. “A wise choice really.”

“I thought so too.” Liam realizes a moment later that he and Theo have started walking together, their footsteps falling in-line.

He spares himself a moment of victory because his plan is working and evil or not he really only has Monroe to thank for this development. Otherwise, he would have been on that porch all summer, too flustered to say more than a fucked up ‘hi’ anytime Theo passed by.

“You know it would be much easier for me to take the other path through the neighborhood,” Theo says conversationally. “This one is kind of far from where I live.”

Liam frowns, he had thought it was a little far from Theo’s house, but he’d always assumed Theo just really liked walking. Hi thighs certainly suggest he enjoys spending a fair amount of his time exercising.

“Oh,” Liam says non-commitally. He’s not entirely sure why Theo is bringing it up but desperately hopes t’s not because Theo’s thinking about changing routes soon

Theo glances over at him and shakes his head, a fond laugh falling from his lips as they follow along behind their zombies. “I mean, that it would be easier to take the other route, but I take this one for a reason,” Theo clarifies giving him a meaningful look. “Wanna guess what that reason is, Dunbar?”

“Mr. Yukimura’s Flowers,” Liam says, his heart thudding in his chest at an unhealthy speed, the sound of it makes both Monroe and Stiles twitch.

There’s no way Theo is saying what Liam thinks he’s saying.

Theo laughs--a full-bodied laugh that makes his shoulder bump into Liam’s. “His flowers are nice but they’re not the most eye-catching thing on this street.”

“You’re right, you’re way prettier,” Liam says without missing a beat. He blinks in surprise at himself, not really believing he just said that without fumbling his words at all.

When he glances over at Theo he sees a faint red hue painting his cheeks beneath the last vestiges of sunlight. It’s endearing, the sight leaving Liam a little breathless. Liam hadn’t been lying when he said Theo was really pretty. Mr. Yukimura’s flowers have nothing on Theodore Raeken.

“That was smooth, Dunbar,” Theo says a moment later sounding almost shy but infinitely impressed.

Liam feels confidence he doesn’t usually have thrumming inside him at the easy look of happiness on Theo’s face. He shrugs and shoots Theo a goofy smile. “I have my moments.”

Monroe darts to the left after a large tabby cat, the leash in Liam’s hand yanks, pinching his fingers and making him stumble off the edge of the curb.

“Whoa,” Theo says, his hand wrapping around Liam’s upper arm and pulling him back to the right, just barely keeping Liam from face planting and giving the zombies an evening snack. “Careful, Dunbar.”

Liam straightens up with embarrassment and scowls over at Monroe as she stares hungrily up at the large branches of an old oak tree where the tabby cat is perched. With a sigh, Liam turns back to Theo to tell him he should go home and feed his zombie before the neighborhood ends up with one less cat, but the words stick in his throat. Theo is closer than before, his hand still wrapped around Liam’s arm, palm warm against Liam’s bare skin.

“Hey, Liam...” Theo whispers, as the sun finally dips down behind the houses, shadows covering the world around them.

It seems impossibly intimate like this, standing so close their chests nearly touch with each inhale, the stars just starting to flicker to life above them. The street lamps come on, one by one, yellow light spilling across the pavement and reflecting in Theo’s dark green eyes.

Liam’s tongue feels clumsy, his mouth dry. “What?”

“Go on a date with me.” Theo’s hand slides down Liam’s arm to his wrist, his fingers caressing the tingling skin and no doubt feeling Liam’s erratically beating pulse. There’s something almost shy about the way he looks at Liam. “Please?”

As if Liam ever had the chance or will to say no. “Okay, he breathes out and Theo smiles at him so brightly it’s like the sun has re-awoken.

Theo sways even closer, his warm breath hitting Liam’s cheek. “Hey, Liam...” he says again, voice going even more hushed.

“What?” Liam asks, his tone matching Theo’s.

“Can I kiss you?”

Liam nods even as he moves closer to Theo and presses his lips to Theo’s mouth. The kiss is soft, almost shy, but deep and searching and full of a summer’s worth of longing. Theo’s hands slide onto his waist, fingers brushing beneath his shirt and leaving trails of fire on Liam’s skin. His own hands move up, tangle in Theo’s dark hair, pulling him closer, kissing him deeper. It’s perfect— until Liam realizes he dropped Monroe’s leash and his zombie is wandering off without him.

It takes all his willpower to pull away from Theo’s lips and remove his hands from Theo’s hair. Theo looks as wrecked as Liam feels, his hair a mess, his lips pink and wet.

“Fuck,” Liam says, his words coming out breathy and raw. He doesn’t know if Theo’s visage brought on the curse or if it was his zombie getting away, but his money is on the first one.

He glances at his zombie worriedly and then darts back in to press one last kiss against Theo’s lips, his teeth nipping gently, before pulling away and running after Monroe.

“Sorry,” he calls out over his shoulder.

“Meet me tomorrow,” Theo laughs, his voice carrying after Liam. “Same time!”

Liam smiles like an idiot as he turns, walking hurriedly backward as he waves at Theo. “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Good! It’s a date!”

_A date._

Liam licks his lips, tastes Theo on them and makes himself turn back around before he trips over something and dies before getting to kiss Theo again. He sucks in a steadying breath then runs, Monroe is already halfway down the road and shows no signs of stopping.

_Frustrating zombie._

* * *

 

When Liam gets home and drops down on the couch, sweaty but smiling, his mother gives him a knowing look, her blue eyes taking in his ruffled hair and the crimson that’s probably permanently infused with his cheeks. “So, did you make any friends with your new zombie?”

“Something like that.”

**The end**

**Author's Note:**

> Im adding a big Thank you to Manon because she’s seriously so sweet and helpful, and this fic would be much messier and typo filled without her.


End file.
